A new study found that infants at high risk for autism were less attuned to differences in speech patterns than low-risk infants. The findings suggest that interventions to improve language skills should begin during infancy for those at high risk for autism.

Short-term use of opioids increases subjective pleasure: Risk of addiction

As indicated by a recently published study, short-term opioid use shifts a range of emotional responses to the positive direction. This may be one of the reasons behind the onset of opioid use disorder.

The mental health of children and young people with some long term physical conditions could benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), according to a recent study. The systematic review used robust methods to bring together and make sense of the best science in this area.

New research shows memories are pliable if you know which regions of the brain's hippocampus to stimulate -- a finding that could someday enable personalized treatment for people with PTSD, depression and anxiety.

Targeting a key gene before birth could someday help lead to a treatment for Down syndrome by reversing abnormal embryonic brain development and improving cognitive function after birth, according to a new study.

People who suffer a stroke caused by bleeding in the brain -- known as brain haemorrhage -- can take common medicines without raising their risk of another stroke, a major clinical trial has found. Researchers say the findings are reassuring for the thousands of people who take the medicines to reduce their risk of heart attack and another common type of stroke caused by blood clots in the brain.

New research expands and deepens the association between clinical depression and pain, identifying specific regions of the brain that drive, influence and moderate depressive mood and its relationship to perceiving physical pain.

Rhythmic waves of brain activity cause us to see or not see complex images that flash before our eyes. An image can become practically invisible if it flashes before our eyes at the same time as a low point of those brain waves. We can reset that brain wave rhythm with a simple voluntary action, like choosing to push a button.

Research results suggest that the inhibition of phosphorylation of microtubule-binding protein CRMP2 could be a novel approach to the development of treatments for optic neuropathies, such as glaucoma and traumatic injury.

Scientists have identified a new mechanism that accelerates aging in the brain and gives rise to the most devastating biological features of Alzheimer's disease. The findings also unify three long-standing theories behind the disease's origins into one cohesive narrative that explains how healthy cells become sick and gives scientists new avenues for screening compounds designed to slow or stop disease progression, something existing medications cannot do.

Neuroscientists have identified a brain circuit that helps break complex decisions down into smaller pieces. The study sheds light on how the brain reasons about probable causes of failure after a hierarchy of decisions.

A team of researchers has developed MNet, an automatic diagnosis system for neurological diseases using magnetoencephalography (MEG), demonstrating the possibility of making automatic neurological disease diagnoses using MEG.

Researchers have demonstrated that the type of bacteria living in the gut can influence the development of Alzheimer's disease symptoms in mice. The study shows that, by altering the gut microbiome, long-term antibiotic treatment reduces inflammation and slows the growth of amyloid plaques in the brains of male mice, though the same treatment has no effect on female animals.

A jawless parasitic fish could help lead the way to more effective treatments for multiple brain ailments, including cancer, trauma and stroke. Researchers borrowed molecules from the immune system of the parasitic sea lamprey to deliver anti-cancer drugs directly to brain tumors.

Researchers block protein that plays a key role in Alzheimer's disease

In recent years, it has become increasingly clear to researchers that the protein galectin-3 is involved in inflammatory diseases in the brain. A study now shows the de facto key role played by the protein in Alzheimer's disease. When the researchers shut off the gene that produces this protein in mice, the amount of Alzheimer's plaque and the inflammatory load both decreased.

Scientists have identified the molecule involved in thalidomide-related dysfunctions associated with in utero brain and organ development. Their in vivo results using a zebrafish model of mammalian development showed that thalidomide binds to a protein named cereblon, a subunit of an enzyme complex responsible for the creation of neurons, thereby inhibiting normal brain development. Their results suggest this protein as a possible therapeutic target for regulating abnormal brain development.

The more abnormalities in intestinal and brain function that IBS sufferers have, the more severe their symptoms of this functional bowel disorder, and the more adversely their everyday life is affected. This is shown by a study indicating that patients with IBS should get treatments for different abnormalities simultaneously, to improve both bowel function and signaling from the brain to the gut.

Researchers have discovered a group of cells in the brain that may function as a 'master-controller' for the cardiovascular system, orchestrating the control of blood flow to different parts of the body.

Characterizing the relay station in the brain that controls our movements

The relay station of the brain, the substantia nigra, consists of different types of nerve cells and is responsible for controlling the execution of diverse movements. Researchers have now characterized two of these cell populations more precisely and has been able to assign an exact function to each of them.

Regardless of how much you exercise or how balanced your diet is, controlling your weight is more brain-related than you might have thought. Researchers show for the first time in mice that the acyl-CoA-binding protein, or ACBP, has a direct influence on the neurons that allow rodents and humans to maintain a healthy weight.

Patients with a rare neurodegenerative brain disorder called Primary Progressive Aphasia, or PPA, show abnormalities in brain function in areas that look structurally normal on an MRI scan. This could mean that scientists could use this as an early detection method.

A new treatment for stroke in mice reduces brain damage and promotes motor recovery

New research shows that brain fluids can be normalized with adrenergic receptor antagonists, a combination of drugs to block the activity of (nor)adrenaline in the brain. This experimental treatment for stroke aided motor recovery and reduced cell death in mice, scientists report.

Findings from a new study of large-scale systems in the brain could improve understanding of the symptoms and causes of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, and other mental illnesses. Researchers detail their investigation into brain network connectivity in patients with psychotic disorders.

To move through the world, you need a sense of your surroundings, especially of the constraints that restrict your movement: the walls, ceiling and other barriers that define the geometry of the navigable space around you. And now, a team of neuroscientists has identified an area of the human brain dedicated to perceiving this geometry. This brain region orients us in space, so we can avoid bumping into things, figure out where we are and navigate safely through our environment.

A new study finds that veterans and service members with a history of combat-related mild traumatic brain injury have much higher levels of abnormally fast brain waves in a region that plays a key role in consciousness.

Neurobiologists have pinpointed the brain area responsible for value decisions that are made based on past experiences. Data from tens of thousands of neurons revealed an area of the brain called the retrosplenial cortex, or RSC, which was not previously known for 'value-based decision-making,' a fundamental animal behavior that is impaired in neurological conditions ranging from schizophrenia to dementia and addiction.

Researchers have developed a stem cell based model in order to study the resilience and vulnerability of neurons in the neurodegenerative disease ALS. The results can aid in the identification of new genetic targets for treatments protecting sensitive neurons.